COMMENTARY | HealthDay News reported Friday on a Mayo Clinic employees/retirees study showing obese people are more responsible for health care costs annually per person than normal weight people by $1,850, and $5,500 more if they're morbidly obese. Furthermore, 20.6 percent of health care costs are due to obesity, or $190.2 billion annually, according to Cornell University research also reported by HealthDay News.

TV and other media pundits can rant and rave about the costs of Obamacare, but while they do that, I've never heard them specifically factor in the above costs that are due to obesity, nor the indirect costs. The anti-Obamacare people need to realize obesity is a bigger threat to the health care system than the president's health care plan.

You can't make people be skinny, but this country does have a problem. I've been going to my kid's soccer practice and have been shocked. It is a pretty low intensity soccer league, but I swear some of these kids haven't ever run or kicked a ball. A couple of them are at least 30 lbs. overweight.

When I was a kid we had two or three of those is a school, now a good 20% of every class is that fat.

The greater irony is that most cases of obesity (discounting, for instance, thyroid problems) are due to personal health-related choices: I choose to eat potato chips instead of getting off the computer and cooking a healthy meal, or instead of going outside for a walk. Obamacare makes the state your own “private” health supervisor/enforcer, thereby removing that choice. It would not surprise me at all to see Obamacare mandate certain target weights, body mass indices, etc, and punish those who can’t hack it.

The greater irony is that most cases of obesity (discounting, for instance, thyroid problems) are due to personal health-related choices: I choose to eat potato chips instead of getting off the computer and cooking a healthy meal, or instead of going outside for a walk. Obamacare makes the state your own private health supervisor/enforcer, thereby removing that choice. It would not surprise me at all to see Obamacare mandate certain target weights, body mass indices, etc, and punish those who cant hack it.

Choice: that IS the problem with obesity, as it is with drugs, booze, candy, couch potato-ism. MOST human beings take the LOW road, the EASY path, the path of LEAST resistance. They all know better. Obese people often stay home because they WEAR their gluttony and sloth--with their XXXlarge size.

Side note: My husband and I were in a Walmart type store in Hawaii, the big island. We were looking for big Hawaiian shirts for him: XX. At the rack for the X sizes there were twoX to EIGHT X. There are some big boys over there.

Obesity is an enormous problem, leading to things such as heart disease and diabetes. Our healthcare costs could be reduced dramatically if people would stop stuffing their faces with junk and actually get off their butts to exercise. Yes, our freedom gives us the right to be obese, but the costs are staggering. I think people should get a price break on insurance if they are in shape and taking care of themselves.

11
posted on 04/15/2012 5:31:34 PM PDT
by doug from upland
(Just in case, it has been reserved: www.TheBitchIsBack2012.com)

When I was a kid we had two or three of those is a school, now a good 20% of every class is that fat.

I agree. If I was a 20 year old now, I'd have to be a chubby chaser unless I wanted to go without. When I got out of HS in 1970, there were very few genuinely overweight girls. I don't mean they were all hot and curvy, just of a much more appropriate weight. I liked skinny girls then, I'd be pretty lonely on Saturday night now if I was 20.

Still, it's not the gubbermint's business. People want to waddle around and eat themselves into an early grave, it's their right. Not a privilege, a right.

I think people should get a price break on insurance if they are in shape and taking care of themselves.

If the government would get it's intrusive and always clumsy nose out of people's private business, insurance companies could offer you, and others, exactly that break. Others like me, probably would not qualify, but we might opt for a very high annual out-of-pocket so that the insurance would only kick in only in case of catastrophe, but would give clients the benefit of the insurance companies negotiated rates with doctors and hospitals. Everything that could be done most likely would be done it the government would simply butt out.

14
posted on 04/15/2012 5:36:54 PM PDT
by John Valentine
(Deep in the Heart of Texas)

Well, the “ranters” haven’t been ranting about sedentaryness, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, junk food and sugar consumption or drug abuse either, all of which are also major contributors to poor health and health care costs. I guess the lack of ranting about these problems are even reasons ObamaCare (TM) is a wonderful thing, right?

22
posted on 04/15/2012 6:02:05 PM PDT
by catnipman
(Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)

California has new commerical called California for Change it obesity program that try gulit trip parents do something about their kids they want public pay for it I am serious I think you could find the commerical on YOU TUBE IN English and Spanish some of the commerical is totally Nannystate

25
posted on 04/15/2012 6:18:36 PM PDT
by SevenofNine
(We are Freepers, all your media belong to us ,resistance is futile)

What is the data-evidence that results of the study were adjusted for the demographic differences between the obese Mayo Clinic employees and retirees versus the nation’s obese, or that the cost data of the Mayo Clinic health plan were adjusted for their differences with national costs in the general population?

To answer my own question - none, I imagine. Which makes the Mayo Clinc’s interpretation of what their study says about Obamacare suspect.

We cannot forget that the Mayo Clinic and its people were some of the first jumping on the Obamacase bandwagon.

Here there is two fast food places in every block and no farmer market either. There be no buses neither, but we find supermarket and buy food. I can eat at fast food and not get fat too. Just don’t eat too much or only fried stuff.

29
posted on 04/15/2012 6:32:45 PM PDT
by achilles2000
("I'll agree to save the whales as long as we can deport the liberals")

Yes, this should be private enterprise setting the market for insurance. I pay lower auto insurance than some others because of no tickets or accidents. I want that benefit so I drive carefully. In health insurance, I want the benefit of lower premiums because I try to take care of myself.

30
posted on 04/15/2012 6:34:19 PM PDT
by doug from upland
(Just in case, it has been reserved: www.TheBitchIsBack2012.com)

obese people are more responsible for health care costs annually per person than normal weight people

Hey, how about we return to a model in which every adult is personally responsible for his or her own health care and health insurance? That way, obesity quickly reduces to a personal issue which is no one else's business. Problem solved.

These stories disgust me because they're based on horse hockey. I pay a hefty health care insurance premium every month yet it's been for-e-ver since I hauled my fat rear to the doctor. The last time they charged me $600 for basically nothing. I found out I could have bought the medicine they gave me at Walgreens for $1. Don't blame me for using up precious medical service. Instead the smokers and hypochondriacs should be thanking me for paying for them.

The illegal drug industry has made our children prisoners in their own homes. When I was a kid, we had rocks and knew how to hit a chipmunk from 60 ft away. We were climbing trees to see who could climb the tallest tree and sliding down the branches from 30 feet up—it was quite the ride. We dug tunnels six feet deep and 20 ft long, tree forts to have a view, built buggies to go down the street with the hill and built wings for our bicycles to fly in the air. We swung on ropes from the highest branch of an old Magnolia tree and played football in the back yard with ten of the neighborhood kids—girls included. There was just cigarettes and alcohol and three channels of TV. No drug pushers (we would have treated them with one of our rocks). But when our mothers called us in for dinner, we all said “Oh no!” It was time to go indoors and we just hated it when our fun had to end.

Now the kids are safe and fat and don’t know how to throw a decent rock.

Speaking of “chubby’s”....have you noticed that they also wear clothing that clings so every roll shows? Was in a furniture store today, and one of the employees was a woman, probably in her late 20’s....nice face...but, sheesh, dressed like she was 30 lbs lighter. I’m embarrassed for these types...but, they sure don’t seem to be....

Judging from my personal experience responding to emergency medical calls I would guess that the percentage of health care costs related to obesity is significantly higher than 20%. It is a little hard to believe that Moochelle has hijacked this fact and somehow politicized it.

It is simple to understand why Americans keep getting fatter... we have increasingly sedentary life styles and readily available high calorie convenience foods. This trend is going to continue... The only way the government is going to have any effect on it is if they screw the economy so badly that there is a shortage of food. I don't doubt that four more years of Obama could put us on that road.

Just about everyone knows from common sense alone... the truth about the health risks of being too fat and not getting enough exercise. Most people have jobs that have almost no physical activity. We love to eat and sit around in front of our computers, and televisions, and we love other sedentary forms of entertainment as well. 99 times out of 100, just about everyone would be better off eating right and exercising regularly than making regular trips to the doctor. Going to the doctor regularly does very little to increase your health or longevity.

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.